Three years ago, U.S. Ski and Snowboard (officially dropped nordic combined from its funding rolls. It was a potentially big blow and flat-liner moment for a program coming off one the most successful runs in U.S. nordic sports history. As recently as 2013, the foursome of Todd Lodwick, Billy Demong, Bryan Fletcher, and Taylor Fletcher earned bronze in the team event at World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Now, under the umbrella of USA Nordic, and two World Championships...
For Tara Geraghty-Moats, nothing compares to the sense of weightlessness she feels and the way spectators appear to sink into the ground when she soars off a ski jump — except maybe the feeling of pushing her physical limits during a cross-country ski race. The two sports have been a part of the 24-year-old New England native’s life since her grammar-school days — she picked up both at the age of 9 and in both, she excelled. By the time she...
Listed at the bottom of a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA) press release Until 2014, USSA managed the U.S. Nordic Combined Team. The team is now run by USA Nordic, yet Jarrett’s position has remained under USSA’s umbrella — they continued to pay his salary. With the 2014 split, Jarrett’s responsibilities grew as he took on both coaching duties as well as some of the logistics of running a team. “Honestly, it’s amazing he lasted as long...
Two years ago, the U.S. nordic combined community suffered a moment of letdown as its major source of funding, USSA, changed course with regard to its sport. Now, the newly formed USA Nordic Sport is spearheading efforts to rejuvenate interest in jumping and nordic combined. Its leader is Olympic gold medalist and former team veteran Billy Demong.
Testing outfits and performance wear in the crappiest conditions, all in the name of research. Fast Big Dog presents the latest in his gear-review series: Best in Show, for a 35-45 degree run or rollerski.
Liz Stephen has been taking advantage of summer to enjoy another endurance-sports passion of hers: running. By both running casually and in races, like the Trail Run National Championship and Red Bull 400 hill climb late last month, Stephen gets the most out of the popular form of cross training.
Bryan Fletcher leapt into contention in the large hill/10 k individual at 2015 World Championships with the 13th-best jump to start the race within 44 seconds of first. In the fight for third until the last few hundred meters, he placed fifth for U.S. Nordic Combined's best individual result at World Championships since 2009.
In the first nordic-combined competition of World Championships, Germany's Johannes Rydzek had some of the best timing all day, attacking late to drop his lone rival before the finish: Italy's Alessandro Pittin. The U.S. saw top-20 jumps from Billy Demong and Ben Berend, and Taylor Fletcher skied up from 25th to 19th.
Park City hosted the first Nordic Combined Continental Cup of the season last week with jumping at Utah Olympic Park and the 10 k races at the Gorgoza tubing hill, moved there because of a lack of snow. Taylor Fletcher posted the two best U.S. performances in fifth and eighth place, followed by Billy Demong.
Billy Demong battled blustery conditions to finish the New York City Marathon with an impressive time of 2:33:05. While the 34 year old is in top running form, Demong said he is less prepared for the upcoming ski season than in years past. Still, the 2010 Olympic gold medalist hopes to bring his team back into medal contention at the 2015 World Championships.
David Knoop, director of the National Nordic Foundation (NNF) in Utah, explains the foundation's beginnings, how he got involved, how it's evolved over the years, and how its current fundraiser, the Drive for 25, actually works.
Late last month, Billy Demong spoke on behalf of his sport at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation trustees' annual meeting. What came out of it was 15 Gold Passes, valued at $10,000 apiece, which U.S. Nordic Combined is currently trying to sell to help pay for its 2014/2015 season.
Back in April, July 31 seemed like dark cloud looming in the distance. But it wasn't that far off, and fortunately for U.S. Nordic Combined, it wasn't all that dreary. "Things are moving forward for sure, and it’s a little bit more hopeful than in April," head coach Dave Jarrett says, explaining that he kept his job and hopes to have two other coaches and two wax techs help him this season.
In three Olympic competitions in Sochi, U.S. Nordic Combined didn't end up with the fairy tale some had come to expect after the 2010 Vancouver Games. But with icons in Billy Demong and Todd Lodwick likely in their last Olympics, the story was more about the team closing one book and opening another.
While U.S. Nordic Combined undoubtedly has its work cut out for its four-man team, Thursday marks the day they've been looking forward to at this Olympics: the 4 x 5 k team event.
After two Americans finished in the top 30 of the first nordic-combined competition at the Sochi Olympics, the team is looking for better performances in today's large hill/10 k -- of which Billy Demong is the defending Olympic champion.
The U.S. Cross-Country and Nordic Combined teams officially announced their athlete selections for the 2014 Winter Olympics, which start in just over two weeks in Sochi, Russia.
U.S. Nordic Combined's Bryan Fletcher and Billy Demong post season-best results at the first-ever Nordic Combined Triple in Seefeld, Austria, this past weekend from Jan. 17-19. "I think that the best is yet to come,” Demong says.
One last video from the final day of the Seefeld Triple on Sunday, with thoughts from U.S. Nordic Combined Head Coach Dave Jarrett, Bryan Fletcher, who notched a season-best fifth overall, and Billy Demong, who skied the third-fastest time to end up 11th in the first cumulative event of its kind in nordic combined.
